There are currently TWO Libertarian Parties in Massachusetts. The Libertarian Association of Massachusetts (LAMA) is a private association of dues-paying members, which reports to the Federal Election Commission. LAMA is the official state affiliate of the National Libertarian Party. We hold a state convention every year, and every other year we choose delegates to attend the National Libertarian Convention as voting members.
Every so often, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognizes the existence of a state Libertarian Party. Massachusetts law, not the National LP, defines the rules by which a recognized party must be organized. Since 2016, the Massachusetts Libertarian Party (MALP) has been recognized as a political party by the state. This status was earned by Gary Johnson for President in 2016 and Dan Fishman for Auditor in 2018, when they each got more than 3% of the vote in the general election.
The rules for a state recognized party differ substantially from the National LP rules for a state affiliate. Furthermore, MALP is no longer recognized when no Libertarian candidate gets 3% of the vote in a statewide election. The MALP has been recognized in just four of the last ten years.
LAMA, on the other hand, remains intact from year to year, and for this reason, we maintain consistent rules and bylaws from one year to the next.
Every year, LAMA members gather at the annual convention to elect a new state committee. But the state committee of a state-recognized political party must be elected by the voters every four years in the Presidential Primary election. The state committee of the MALP will be up for reelection on March 3, 2020.
For the last four years, the MALP has been relatively inactive. But the MALP is responsible for ensuring that the Libertarian candidate for president, chosen at the National Convention, appears on the ballot in Massachusetts. So it is CRITICAL that the MALP state committee members who are elected by the voters consist of actual Libertarians.
Libertarian primary voters in each of the 40 state senate districts will choose one state committee man and one state committee woman. In order to stand for election, a candidate must be registered L by August 19th and must not have been registered in any other party since last November. The candidate must submit 50 certified signatures of voters in his or her district to the office of the Secretary of State by November 19th.
For more information, please read this document about running for State Committee, published by the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
